Japanese flag in those treaties.
I have now the honour to inform Your Excellency
that the conclusion at which Her Majesty's Government have arrived
on this question is that
there is not, as far as they are aware, any
provision either in national or international Law
prohibiting vessels from hoisting the colours of any
other nation at their mast heads, so long as their own
flag is also displayed, and as usage has also sanctioned this practice, there is not sufficient ground for the objection raised by
the British Colonial authorities, which, however,
originated, Her Majesty's Government have
every reason to believe, in a misapprehension on the part of the Governor as to the law and usage in
such matters, and under a conviction of the inconveniences which might arise if the practice were persisted in.
I shall instruct Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonial Department that a copy of this letter should be sent to the Governor of Hong Kong; and I have to express the hope that the foregoing explanation
will be satisfactory to Your Excellency's Government.